00:00This is Tim Wasper from Festtrek Concert TV.
00:28I'm here at the Regal Cinema's Union Square in New York City for Dances with Films New York.
00:58Yeah, I mean, I think one of the things, you know, for me, it's funny, my background is I'm not a big horror guy, right?
01:08And so making a horror film was something that wasn't really on my bingo card that I was thinking.
01:12But when I got a chance to read Mike's script, it was really the horror of this decision that was weighing down on the Iris character.
01:21I love the kind of the psychology of it.
01:23And to me, it's like that's what really gravitated.
01:24It's like the horror.
01:25It's like, yeah, there's spooks and thrills that happen, but it's really kind of the icing on top of this really emotional underbelly, what the character is going through.
01:33And that's really what I wanted to dig into was the psychological weight that's going on and then how that can start to twist and manifest in a person's mind.
01:42And is the supernatural elements, is that in your mind?
01:45Is that an extra manifestation of the guilt or is it actually happening?
01:48And that's what really got me excited to do the film.
01:50In terms of my process as an actor, I thought like it was such a phenomenal script in that, you know, what Iris is dealing with is stuff that like 99% of this country is facing right now.
02:04And, you know, as actors, we are asked to give ourselves to a character.
02:09And this one was one that was so beautifully complex, but also so like gut-wrenchingly relatable.
02:18This collaboration has been going on for 15 years.
02:21It was an easy decision to trust Harry with the checkbook to know that he was going to select the right script.
02:27I mean, it's very talented.
02:28I've seen his work over so many years.
02:31I didn't have a lot of struggle to deciding how to contribute other than to find the money.
02:41I'll pay.
02:48Bridget, I can't do this.
02:51You are doing an act of service.
02:55You showed up at the hospital as if you had some responsibility to be there.
03:00I mean, Atmosphere was such a huge element.
03:02Some of the films that like, I went in, there's a movie called Super Dark Times, which I'm embarrassed that I forgot the name of the director.
03:09It's killing me.
03:09But it's this really kind of like underrated gem where it's like, it's not a horror movie.
03:14It's more of a thrill, but it's got these little moments.
03:16And it's like, it kind of follows these kids that discover this sword, right?
03:20And it's like, okay, what are these, you know, something bad is going to happen.
03:22These high school kids have found this sword.
03:24What's going to end up happening?
03:25And the mood to that movie is like, it just kind of puts, it's a vibe.
03:28And I like these movies where it kind of, it sets this vibe and you know, there's this weight of something is about to happen.
03:34There's like a ticking time bomb that's supposed to happen.
03:36And I feel like, you know, the team did such a great job of just crafting that mood on set.
03:41And I think it really helped, you know, you and Alicia and Ron and everybody kind of just play within that space.
03:46And you and Alicia were so, so good at diving into the text and saying like, okay, you know, this, but maybe, maybe we say a couple things less.
03:55And it leaves a little bit more to open interpretation.
03:58And we were just making these changes, calling these audibles on the fly.
04:01And we were shooting in real locations, which I think always lends a sense of authenticity to a project.
04:06Like we were in a house.
04:08Yes.
04:09And I think as actors, and I think as a director, you would like encourage us before a take to just be breathing, feeling the moment, taking, like it wasn't action.
04:19It was more like when you're ready, you know, which is a really beautiful and generous way to work.
04:24It's funny, Joel Silver, you know, produced what they call Die Hard many years ago.
04:38And there's a lesson in there, which is something needs to happen every five minutes.
04:41And so when we're doing a one location movie, we were just, you know, very, very like particular about making sure that our story moved.
04:49Like it almost moves like an action film, even though it's a survival drama with only two characters.
04:54And I think what it does is it invests the movie with some pace so that you don't feel you're just sitting there watching people talk, you know, all day.
05:01We put in some action sequences.
05:03Yeah, we put in some humor.
05:05We tried to like torture the actors a little bit so that we would sympathize with them.
05:09So we really approached it from that perspective of making it a quickly paced, high octane movie, but wrapped inside a single location, two-handed.
05:18Yeah, I think it was important that the film was dynamic and we have these high tension moments, like Josh is saying, in these sequences.
05:25But really the heart and the meaning of the film is in the subtle, softer moments, right?
05:29And we just wanted to make sure that we were going to be able to get people to the end of the film so that when they do get there, they're going to, you know, they're going to feel something.
05:35They're going to identify these characters, care about them, and want to see them potentially make it off, you know, the roof.
05:42We're locked out now.
05:46Someone will come for us.
05:49No one's coming.
05:51We're stuck.
05:56We're going to die up here.
05:57We're not going to die.
06:02We're going to find a way.
06:20We had a lot of influence from a movie like Passed Away, which is an amazing film.
06:24And the reason that resonated, at least with me, is that, you know, Tom Hanks' character, he's all about being on time, on time, on time.
06:32And then he gets stuck on an island where time doesn't matter anymore, right?
06:35And the same way that we had Dev, the character in our film, you know, a very polished guy, a lot of vibrato, you know, leads with the way he looks and the things he wears.
06:43He gets stuck on a roof where none of that matters anymore, you know?
06:45When you watch throughout the film, where he literally strips away all of that and gets down to that core base of, like, what is valuable, what matters.
06:53And ultimately, it's what you can do for other people that matters.
06:55And he comes to learn.
06:55We're super honored to be the closing night film at Dancing with Films.
06:58I'm very happy to just get a big audience together in a theater like this, which is definitely going to be the biggest it's played so far.
07:05It'll be cool to just see people that are excited about the film, but not super close to the film, to see it and enjoy it and experience it.
07:12And discover it.
07:13And discover it, yeah.
07:13We are so excited to see it with an audience tonight in that giant, beautiful theater.
07:18We were there this morning testing the DCP, and it's just going to be great.
07:21It's going to be the best, it's going to be the biggest screen it's ever played on, most likely.
07:28We'll see you next time.
07:58We'll see you next time.
